Consumer magazines launch federal popular initiative "Pro Service public"
Federal enterprises should not be run for profit, but rather to provide citizens with good, affordable services. That is the view of the consumer magazines K-Tipp, Saldo, Bon à Savoir, and Spendere Meglio. That is why they are launching a popular initiative.
Railroads, Swiss Post, Swisscom & Co. are making ever higher profits, according to a press release. Despite this, prices are constantly rising and services are being cut back. "This development should be stopped. The new motto for these companies should be: Service instead of profit!" said René Schuhmacher, journalistic director of K-Tipp and Saldo, on Tuesday at the presentation of the Initiative in front of the media.
Swiss Post has made billions in profits in recent years, the report continues. From 2007 to 2010, CHF 900 million flowed into the federal coffers. Swisscom has made the cash register ring even more strongly: The federal government received 2.36 billion. This is nothing more than hidden taxes, the initiators criticize. The bill is paid by the citizens who own these companies. Despite profits, the prices of SBB, Swiss Post & Co. are constantly rising - and services are being cut back: counters are closing, trains are being cleaned less and letterboxes are being emptied less.This initiative aims to change that. Good service should be more important to federal companies than profit. The federal government should be prohibited from indirectly levying taxes through excessively high postal, SBB and Swisscom tariffs.
Syndicom is skeptical
Syndicom understands and shares the main motivation of the initiators, according to a statement from the media and communications union. However, Syndicom also wonders what the impact of the strict application of this initiative would be. What financial losses would result for the Confederation? What consequences would this have on the quality of the public service? Could the adoption of the initiative not put pressure on the wages and working conditions of the employees of these companies? And wouldn't this initiative provide an ideal pretext for the gradual privatization of the most profitable units of these former state-run companies? This would leave the state - and taxpayers - to finance the units that perform public service tasks.
For these reasons, Syndicom is skeptical about this initiative, according to the communiqué. The union is convinced that there are more effective ways to protect the interests of users of the public service, as well as those who make it possible.
